Overnight system leaves a trail of downed trees and outages
Thursday night’s storm system tore through the Washington region with wind gusts topping 60 mph, downing trees, crushing at least one vehicle and cutting power to more than 150,000 customers across the metro area. Daylight brought a clearer picture of the damage, with fallen trees blocking roads, striking homes and leaving neighborhoods across DC, Maryland and Virginia dealing with cleanup well into this morning.
Wind gusts hit hurricane-like speeds
Winds reached as high as 70 mph inside the District, with a 64 mph gust recorded at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport. Reader-submitted video from across the region captured nearly nonstop lightning paired with the violent wind, with footage from spots including Navy Yard and Arlington showing conditions residents compared to a passing hurricane. One resident described briefly losing power mid-recording while filming from a high balcony in Arlington.
Fallen trees strike homes and vehicles
The most dramatic damage came from falling trees. One tree came down at 5th and F streets NE, crushing a parked car and blocking both the roadway and nearby sidewalks. DC Council member Charles Allen, who represents the area, said he checked on neighbors nearby and confirmed everyone was safe, though he also flagged a separate tree leaning against a home in the area that could still come down. Separately, DC Fire and EMS responded to a large tree that fell directly onto a rowhouse in the 200 block of 8th Street SE. Everyone inside evacuated safely, and no injuries were reported there or elsewhere in the district as of early this morning.
Over 150,000 people without power after tonight’s insane storms with nonstop lightning and violent winds. We’ll have an explainer on this event on Friday…